It’s been about a year since I made Pavlova and as hard as I try I still can’t remember which recipe I used. I found 2 recipes I wanted to make when my sister asked me to make 1 or 2 for my niece’s confirmation party. One was a vanilla Pavlova with a little lemon in the meringue, whipped cream and fresh fruit and berries. The other was chocolate flavoured with a hint of coffee in the cream and cherry sauce on top. Both were delicious and popular!!

This time I’ll post the fruit and berry Pavlova recipe. I read through some different recipes I found on Pinterest and then did my own thing.

Beat egg whites with vinegar in a clean dry bowl until the soft peak stage. The vinegar helps to stabilise the whites. (When you pick up the hand mixer the egg white should form peaks that flop over.)

Beat in sugar one tablespoon at a time until all the sugar is dissolved. (If you rub some egg white between your fingers it should not be gritty.)

Fold in vanilla sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch.

Draw a 10 inch/25 cm circle on a piece of baking paper to use as an outline. Gently scoop the meringue into the circle trying to build up a slanted edge (kind of like a volcano) since the whole thing will puff up.

Once it is ready, put it in the oven and turn it down to 115 degrees. Bake for around 3 hours.

Let it cool off in the oven after turning it off. If using the next day, just leave it in the oven overnight since it is airtight.

Just before serving whip the cream.

Slice and layer the bananas on first, then cover them with whipped cream so they don’t turn brown. Slice or cube the other fruit and dump it (literally) on top of the cream. It’s ready to serve.

I read that it’s not such a good idea to make such a big Pavlova since the chances of it cracking are very high. It cracked when I tried to move it off the paper but that is because I forgot to move it until I had already put the cream on it…oops!! Once the cream is on no one can see the cracks to don’t worry if it happens to you.

When you bring your Pavlova out everyone will be impressed so give it a try.

Like this:

I discovered some boxes of cream cheese that I had forgotten in the back of my fridge and they were about to expire. I know my daughter loves cream cheese ice cream so I decided that that was what I would make. I already had some whipping cream in the freezer I could use – I sometimes buy food close to expiring and freeze it. Then when at the supermarket, I saw some very cheap strawberries and just knew I had to make STRAWBERRY ice cream.

The recipe is very simple and very quick to make!!

Ingredients:

900 grams strawberries

600 grams cream cheese

500 ml whipping cream, 38% fat

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

Instructions:

Wash and de-core strawberries. Put in blender and blend.

Add cream cheese, sugar and vanilla sugar to strawberries and blend.

Add cream and blend.

Pour mixture into 2 loaf pans lined with a strip of wax paper.

Put in freezer until frozen.

Once it’s frozen it’s quite hard, so it’s easier to cut if you take it out of the freezer a few minutes before serving it.

This ice cream is so easy to make and all kinds of fruit can be added. I’d suggest adding chopped strawberries as well to give it a more beautiful look.

This is my favourite coconut macaroon recipe because it’s so easy to make and turns out chewy and delicious. I found the recipe on Just One Cook Book and have made them for all kinds of occasions at least 10 times. I usually double the recipe because they are so popular.

This time I decided to use the recipe to make birds nests for our family Easter get-together. The recipe made around 15 nests.

Add shredded coconut and stir until well mixed. No slim from the whites should be visible.

With 2 spoons, form small ( ca. 2 cm ) mounds of coconut mix on a baking tray covered with baking paper. With a rounded tablespoon gently make dents in the center of the mounds.

Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate using a water bath or microwave. I tend to use a microwave since it’s faster. You do have to be careful not to over cook the chocolate when using a microwave by only heating it for around 20-30 seconds at a time in between mixes.

After the macaroons are baked and cooled dip the bottoms in the melted chocolate, putting them back on the same sheet of baking paper they were baked on. Using the remaining chocolate, put a teaspoon full in each nest and make thin streaks across the nests for decoration.

While the chocolate is still liquid put one or 2 chocolate eggs in each nest so once they are cooled the eggs don’t fall out.

Like this:

After hearing about solæg from many of my Danish friends and colleagues, I decided it was time to try them for myself. Since it was Easter, I felt now was the best time. I Googled solæg and when I saw a recipe I liked I set about the 2-day process. These eggs are often eaten as an appetiser or a snack along with snaps or beer.

I love recipes with extra flare so I chose a recipe that called for cracking the shell of the boiled egg before soaking them in the salt and onion peel solution. They turned out beautifully.

The recipe I used is from Gastromand. Of corse, it’s in Danish (since it’s a south Danish speciality) so I’ll just write up what I did here. Since I only made 7 eggs as an experiment so had to adapt the recipe.

Ingredients

7 small or medium eggs

2 tbsp salt

peel from 2 red onions

one big glass jar that fits all your eggs

mustard, tabasco sauce and vinegar for filling

Instructions

Boil the eggs for 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the onion peels in enough water to cover the eggs once they are in the jar you are going to use.

Once the eggs are almost cooled, crack the shells all around by tapping gently with a spoon. Place eggs in the jar.

Take out the onion peels once the water is cooled and pour the water over the eggs making sure they are all submerged. Let them soak for 2-3 days.

When you are ready to eat them, peel the eggs and gently cut them in half lengthwise. Carefully pop the yolks out.

Add mustard, tabasco sauce and vinegar to taste inside the egg white.

Return the now gray egg yolk to its place but upside down.

Eat the eggs by placing an entire half in your mouth in one bite.

Then rinse your mouth with snaps. Skål! Cheers!

If you like slightly salted hard boiled eggs with mustard and tabasco sauce flavouring then I’m sure you’ll love these, because that’s exactly what they taste like. Ha!

I’m glad I tried something new this Easter since the coconut macaroon birds nests I also made for afternoon coffee, I had made 3 years ago. I’ll be posting the recipe for that soon too.

Like this:

I created these recipes last week for my students in 8th grade. We were having a “mini-community” week where each class had to make something to sell to the rest of the school and visiting family members. The students, we were 2 classes working together on the bar, voted for a milk and juice bar which we called Milk ‘n’ Juicy. Along with my students, we decided what we wanted the milkshakes to be like and I then made the recipes to fit our budget and blender.

We made jordbær milkshake (strawberry milkshake), kakaomælk med is (chocolate milk with ice-cream), and Oreo milkshake.

Melt chocolate in a water bath. Dip cups’ edge in chocolate and then in pink sprinkles. (Optional step)

Blend frozen strawberries, milk and sugar until well blended.

Add cream and vanilla sugar and blend.

Pour into cups and decorate with whipped cream and dried strawberries.

Drink with a straw while freezing cold.

Oreo Milkshake

Ingredients: (around 1 liter)

1/2 liter vanilla ice-cream

4 dl milk

10 Oreo cookies

whipping cream, 5 Oreos + 2 crumbled Oreos for decoration

Instructions:

Blend 10 Oreos and milk until well blended but small sized crumbs are visible.

Add ice-cream and blend until well mixed.

Pour into cups and decorate with whipping cream. Top with crushed Oreos and 1 full Oreo per cup.

It was a great week and we got many compliments about our drinks. We sold more than 200 milkshakes in addition to the around 150 juices and smoothies we sold. Success!!

In order to attract more customers, I bought a big red dice which each person got to roll when they came to buy a drink. If they rolled a 1 then they got a 50% discount on their drink. This along with the cute bamboo bar, crépe paper flowers we made, blue fairy lights and sombreros made for a very fun and attractive “bar”.

I think these milkshakes will be a hit at any kind of children’s or teenagers’ party.

My BIRTHDAY cake! On my birthday this year, I made a layer cake, which for the first time ever, included jelly. It was a Lemon cake with a cream cheese lemon icing and mixed berry jelly with whole strawberries inside. This cake was inspired by some cakes I saw in a bakery in Hamburg, Germany earlier in the year. They didn’t have as many layers and I don’t actually know what flavor the cake was, but at that moment I added it to my mental birthday to do list.

Ha Ha!! Yes, I put the cake on the grass to take pictures. I couldn’t help myself. I just loved all the buttercups that were growing in the lawn.

This cake is a mixture of a few different recipe ideas. The only recipe I actually followed is the one for the lemon cake. It is actually a white sheet cake. I chose to make a thin cake and then cut it into circles to save on baking time. It worked out better than I expected = happiness! I served it with some No Churn Blueberry Ice cream which I wrote about previously.

Lemon Sheet Cake

1/2 cup (125 ml) cremé fraiche (I used yoghurt the second time I made it)

rind from 1 lemon

3 Tbsp lemon juice, from 1 lemon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 165 degrees C.

Melt butter in water in a large pot over medium-low heat.

Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, flour, salt, vanilla sugar and baking soda. Whisk until smooth.

Stir in eggs and then the sour cream and mix until blended.

Pour the batter into a 30 by 40 cm baking tray covered with greased baking paper.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched or a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Once the cake was cooled, I cut 2 circles out of it. Unfortunately, the size I wanted was too big so the upper layer is actually 2 pieces of cake. Fortunately, there is no way to see that…so, shhh, dont tell anyone.

The Cream Cheese Whipping Cream Icing I tend to keep coming back to is this one. Very easy to make and it’s not a big deal if you add flavors or use more or less of any of the ingredients. It is the perfect amount for one cake.

Cream Cheese Whipping Cream Icing

Ingredients:

1 (200 gram) package cream cheese, cold

3/4 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) 38% fat whipping cream, cold

Lemon juice, from 1 lemon

Lemon rind, from 1 lemon

Instructions:

Beat the cream cheese until smooth.

Add sugar and beat until you cant feel the grains of sugar when rubbing a little between 2 fingres.

Add salt, vanilla sugar, lemon juice and rind. Mix.

Add whipping cream and beat till stiff peaks form.

I then made the jelly without following any recipe.

Mixed Berry Jelly

Ingredients:

1 cup (250 ml) 4 in 1 mixed berry fruit juice concentrate

1 cup (250 ml) water

10 sheets of gelatin (17 grams)

200 grams strawberries (sliced or whole), optional

Instructions:

Mix juice concentrate and water in a pot on the stove over medium heat.

Add gelatin sheets one at a time while mixing gently to dissolve.

When dissolved remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature or 30 mins.

Once the parts for all the layers are ready, start assembling it. I used a spring form pan to assemble the cake in with and extra metal ribbon around the inside because I could see the pan wasn’t tall enough. Layers of cake, cream, cake, cream, the strawberries and then finally pour on the jelly. I kept the strawberries whole but I think it would have been easier to cut the cake and everyone would have been happier if the strawberries had been spread out over the entire cake. Put the cake in the fridge until the jelly is set. I left it in over night since I didn’t want to make the cake on my birthday like I usually end up doing.

It was another lovely cake that everyone enjoyed.

I made it again for my students and colleagues at work the week after. I decided to use rhubarb for my colleagues instead of strawberries and it added a whole different dimension to the cake. I boiled the sliced rhubarb for a few minutes with some sugar before layering it on top of the cream cheese icing. In my eyes the cake was a flop. Because I left the cake in the big baking pan when I poured on the jelly, it ran down around and under the cake. This meant the cake was maybe more moist then it should have been? But it still tasted fab! A number of people even asked me for the recipe. So by popular demand, Here It Is!

Hope someone will enjoy sharing their cake as much as I did. Have a lovely week ahead!

Ok I’m sold!! I will officially begin making no-churn ice cream more often. Of course I knew it was possible and that it tasted great but making it myself was just one of those mental blocks I’ve had. The recipe came about because I bought a number of cream cheese packets on sale and I decide I wanted to make cheese cake. I didn’t however want to spend much time on it and didn’t want to bake it.

I started looking for cream cheese deserts on Pinterest and decided I wanted to make a frozen one. After reading a few recipes I decided just do my own thing with what had on hand. Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

600 grams cream cheese

1 can condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla sugar

juice from 1 lemon, about 5 tbsp (will use some zest next time for more zing)

Add vanilla sugar and lemon juice and mix. It seems quite liquid at this point but it thickens nicely after sitting for a little while.

Layer the ingredients. I put cream cheese mix, berries, crumble then repeated it 3 times. I didn’t put much crumble on top though. (I think I’ll but more berries and more crumble next time.)

Put in freezer until it is as firm as you want it.

After about 3 hours it was still very soft so we just ate a little to taste. I used an ice cream scoop but the balls just crumbled apart where the crumbs were. After leaving it in the freezer over night we ate some again and this time it was too hard to scoop out so I just cut it with a knife instead.

It’s been 3 weeks since I made this cheese cake ice-cream and wrote this post but forgot to publish it. My birthday is coming up this weekend and I’ve decided that I’m going to make it again but maybe with a twist. I found a recipe with a blueberry sauce swirled in and I think that will look very nice…and of course taste nice too.

I’ll add the blueberry sauce link here that I plan on using along with my own recipe.

I really really think everyone should try this cream cheese ice cream it’s so good and easy to make!! Why can’t I find any emojis on WordPress to add here? I miss them every time I write a post.

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I find that being aware of looking for opportunities to enjoy life through as many senses as possible creates strong impressions of pleasure that enhance life's experiences. As with any other creation, there are many aspects to making an enjoyable experience. There should be memorable stimulation caused by texture, smell, color, taste, and visual presentation.
This blog follows my journey as I learn to create, through following other's recipes, adapting recipes and creating my own. My love for all cooking, but mostly baking, comes from the joy I feel when sharing what I make with others and the satisfaction of a job well done.
I am not naturally gifted when it comes to cooking but I find the experience meditative and creative, thus mentally relaxing.
Please join me in my quest for making eating a beautiful experience.